Plusnet & ACS

This item has been aired on Plusnet before, however according to the BBC news at 1 today at least 400 plusnet customers have had their personal details put on the internet for all to see..... The claim is that these people were illegaly downloading music or movie files.Can someone at Plusnet confirm if this news item is correct and if so how secure are Plusnet's details of all it's users.If this item is incorrect then I apologise but would be surprised if the BBC has run this without first checking.

Re: Plusnet & ACS

The personal details of a further 8,000 people alleged to have shared music or films illegally have appeared online.A list of more than 8,000 Sky broadband subscribers and a second of 400 PlusNet users surfaced following a security breach of legal firm ACS:Law.It comes after a database of more than 5,000 people suspected of downloading adult films emerged on Monday.The UK's Information Commissioner said ACS:Law could be fined up to half a million pounds for the breaches.The two new lists, produced by ACS:Law, contain the names, addresses and Internet addresses (IP addresses) of users suspected of illegally sharing music.Continue reading the main storyRelated stories * Porn list leak could prompt fine * Adult video-sharing list leaked * Who are 4chan?In addition, they contain details of how much compensation infringers paid ACS:Law, along with internal case notes.The BBC has also seen e-mails which contain credit card details of people who have paid the firm compensation. Others contain responses from people claiming their innocence.The UK's Information Commissioner (ICO), speaking after the initial leak, told the BBC that ACS:Law had a number of questions to answer."The question we will be asking is how secure was this information and how it was so easily accessed from outside," said Christopher Graham."We'll be asking about the adequacy of encryption, the firewall, the training of staff and why that information was so public facing."The Information Commissioner has significant power to take action and I can levy fine of up to half a million pounds on companies that flout the [Data Protection Act]," he added.Privacy expert Simon Davies called the leaks "one of the worst breaches" of the Data Protection Act (DPA) he had ever seen.Data breachThe documents appeared online after users of the notorious message board 4chan attacked ACS:Law's site in retaliation for its anti-piracy efforts, as part of what its users called Operation Payback.ACS:Law has made a business out of sending thousands of letters to alleged net pirates, asking them to pay compensation of about £500 per infringement or face court.